


Honesty

by FreyaVenus



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Bigotry & Prejudice, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Love Confessions, M/M, Magnus Bane and Max Lightwood First Meet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-02-21
Packaged: 2018-09-26 02:35:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9858167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreyaVenus/pseuds/FreyaVenus
Summary: After the party Alec gets a chance to speak to Max about Magnus. He learns about what is being taught at Idris. Also Alec and Jace support Maryse during her time of need and discuss relationships in general. Post 2x08.





	

**Author's Note:**

> hey! This is just an idea that I had because I felt like Max was a little nervous around Magnus.

Magnus had portalled Iris Rouse to the Clave. If the timing was not so dire he would have joked about being a bounty hunter for the Clave because he seemed to be sending so many prisoners to them. However, this was no time for a joke. Magnus had always made sure to stay out of the current wars because he had lived through enough to know that however bad a war, another would be waged soon after. It was an endless circle of violence that he was sick of. Now, Valentine had come after him and he was going to give it his all to bring down any man who thinks that he can take down Magnus Bane the High Warlock of Brooklyn. 

In fact until Iris, no warlock or Downworlder for that matter has ever dared challenge Magnus, especially in his own home. Iris coming into his home and stealing his most precious belonging was his tipping point. If Valentine wants to go to war against him, Magnus would welcome it. He needed to get started immediately. 

Alec and Jace noticed the strain on Magnus’ face. They looked at each other for a second before Jace announced that they had to get going if they wanted to be on time for Max’s rune ceremony. Everyone left after bidding Magnus goodbye and thanking him for being such a gracious host. Alec stayed back and after the last of their guest left, he locked Magnus’ door. Magnus had already retreated into his work room when Alec came looking for him. 

“Magnus,” Alec called, feeling a little silly about not knowing which part of today to speak about. He only had 10 minutes at most. There was so much to talk about but right now he would stick to what was most important. 

“Alexander,” Magnus replied a little surprised that his boyfriend was still around. “Magnus, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize that by hosting this party you would lose your spell book,” Alec explained sadly.

“Alexander, don’t be sorry. It was hardly your fault. Iris would have come after me for the book anyway,” Magnus told Alec as he gently held his face. “I will fix this, Alexander. Trust me,” Magnus reassured the solemn looking shadowhunter.

“I know I’m just upset that you have to. I know you don’t like getting involved with shadowhunter business and I don’t blame you for it Magnus,” said Alec sadly. “I don’t like that you will be in danger, Magnus. Valentine wanted you dead when we first met and if he hurts you, I’ll never be able to forgive myself,” added Alec. 

“Darling, I’m going to be okay. I’m the High Warlock of Brooklyn. I can take care of myself. Although I must admit, I’m touched,” replied Magnus with a small smile playing on his lips. He loved it when Alec was like that, unguarded, open and honest. Alec only behaved like this when they were alone, Magnus realized. 

Alec nodded and placed a chaste kiss on Magnus’ lips. “Are you going to be okay?” he asked Magnus. Magnus was a little surprised by Alec’s question but quickly composed himself. “Yes darling. I’ll be just fine. Now you better get going if you don’t want to be late for Max’s rune ceremony,” he said. Once again, Alec nodded but before he could really leave the room Magnus pushed him against the door and kissed him, hard. 

When they broke apart, Alec seemed surprised. “What was that for?” asked Alec while grinning. “Nothing, I just really felt like kissing you, so I did. Was that okay?” asked Magnus, feigning innocence. “It was perfect,” Alec told Magnus while blushing furiously. “Do you think it’ll be okay if I came back after the ceremony?” asked Alec, unable to meet Magnus’ eyes. “You’re always welcome here, Alexander,” Magnus reminded him and Alec nodded and not so subtly swallowed.

When Alec left the loft, Magnus locked the door behind him. He could not be too safe. He needed to find a way to track the book down. That book could unleash hell in Valentine’s hands and that was the last thing he wanted. The book also contained a summoning spell for a demon, the worst of them all in Magnus’ opinion. His father. 

At the institute, Alec hugged his brother after the ceremony. “I’m so proud of you, Max,” he said. Max smiled and thanked him. Unable to stop touching his first and brand new rune. “You shouldn’t touch it,” Alec admonished as Izzy approached her brothers. Alec took a step back and allowed his sister to pamper their little brother. Smiling at the sight before him, he caught Jace out of the corner of his eye following Maryse into the halls. Deciding he needed to talk to the both of them, he followed his parabatai. 

He only caught the end of their conversation. He was happy that they had resolved their issue but he steeled himself as he approached their mother. Max mentioned Maryse and Robert fighting over Alec and Magnus. Alec wanted to ask his mother about it, put the issue to bed once and for all. He was surprised to learn that his level headed father was cheating on his mother. He could feel Jace’s rage as he stood next to him. He hugged his mother. It had been a while since they had embraced but as Alec held her sobbing body he felt love for his mother. Something he thought he would not feel again after they parted ways at his botched wedding. 

Soon, Maryse wiped away her tears and the three of them went to the kitchen in search of some comfort food or a good bottle of wine. Alec could not imagine the pain of having someone you love betray you. He would never do that to Magnus. He simply could never do something as terrible as that. He knew without a flicker of doubt if Magnus cheated on him, it would break him completely. 

In Magnus’ loft, Magnus was still riffling through his possessions to find something to help him retrieve his spell book. He was growing more frustrated as he found nothing. Not ready to give up, he starting looking up spells that could help him in battle against Valentine. 

He had to be ready to face Valentine now. He had a bad feeling that he would be seeing him sooner rather than later. As he was doing that he spotted the Book of White. It was old and powerful; if anything could help him it would be that. With a huge smile he opened the book and started looking through the spells. 

At the institute, Alec and Jace had said good night to Maryse. “I can’t believe he would do that to her,” Alec confided to Jace. “I’m as surprised as you are. I always thought that they were going to stand by each other,” Jace said. “I don’t know if they ever loved each other, I hoped that they had at some point, you know. It’s horrible what he’s done,” Alec said soflty. “I guess relationships are just really complicated,” Jace told Alec.

“You don’t cheat on someone just because it’s complicated. You talk it out, yell even. Cheating on someone is throwing away what you had. There’s no going back from that,” Alec countered. Jace could tell he was getting pretty worked up now. “Yeah, that’s what you,” he said agreeing sincerely. With a smirk he added, “I guess Magnus thought you a whole lot on relationships?”

“Shut up,” Alec said with no real heat behind his words. “I’m going to go speak to Max. They’re leaving early in the morning and I was thinking of heading to Magnus’ after this,” Alec informed his smug parabatai. “Spending the night with your boyfriend again I see. Want me gone?” he asked while wiggling his eyebrows. “Goodnight Jace,” Alec said without answering the question as set out towards his brother’s room. He needed to talk to Max about Magnus.

“Max?” Alec called softly into his brother’s room. The light was turned off and he was not sure if Max had already fallen asleep. “Alec!” came a voice from the darkness of the room. With a smile, Alec turned on the lights in the room and walked over to his younger brother who was tucked into bed. “Hey buddy, how are you?” he asked gently. “I’m so excited to show my friends in Idris my first rune. Mum promised to get me a new steele. Something nicer,” Max replied excitedly. Alec laughed at his brother’s excitement. “All steele’s are the same Max,” he told his brother. “I know, but I still want a new one,” insisted Max. 

“Well, I’m sure mum will let you pick one out in Idris,” he said to placated the younger boy. “Hey Max,” Alec said slowly. Max looked at Alec, eyes wide and curious. Alec had that voice. The one he used when he was being super serious. “What do you think of Magnus?” he asked. Max swallowed. He loved his brother but Magnus was, new. Shrugging at the question Max asked Alec,”Do I have to like him?” he asked sounding so naïve it broke Alec’s heart. 

“Max, I would never force you to like someone. Why don’t you like Magnus?” Alec asked suddenly terribly nervous about his answer. This was not something that he had done before. Izzy and Jace had been completely supportive of his relationship with Magnus, heck even Clary was supportive. Max looked really contemplative for a while. Finally he answered Alec. “Magnus is a Downworlder and in Idris we are taught that Downworlders are bad and they do things to harm Shadowhunters. Warlocks are part demon and as a Shadowhunter, it is our job to protect mundane from demons,” he said. 

Alec felt like he had been punched in his chest. “Max, is that why you asked to Magnus’ mark?” Alec asked. “Yeah, in class we were taught that the scarier a warlocks mark the more dangerous he is,” Max answered honestly. “Max..,” said Alec, he was speechless. He had no idea that was how his brother had felt. He was furious at the Academy for instilling prejudice into children at such a young age. “Alec, I heard my trainers say that Magnus Bane is one of the most powerful warlock, they said something about him being more part demon than human,” Max said softly, worried he was going to incur his older brothers anger. 

Alec did not react immediately to what his brother had said. This explained so much, he now knew why his brother was so distant with his boyfriend. Taking a deep breath, and reminding himself that this was not Max’s fault. It was the age old prejudice that Shadowhunters had against Downworlders. Max spent his whole life in idris not exposed to anyone else. With no real resources to learn about the Downworld. He decided right then that he was going to correct his brother’s perspective. 

“Max, it’s true that Magnus is a very powerful warlock. He holds the title High Warlock of Brooklyn because he is very good at what he does. You saw his magic today right? It was magnificent. Max, Magnus is a good person; he has helped us so many times. In fact, I only met Magnus because we needed his help. He’s healed so many and he takes care of the Downworld,” Alec said trying to explain Magnus’ position in their world. 

“But weren’t you scared by his warlock mark? It looked dangerous,” Max said. “Max, it is bad manners to ask a warlock to reveal their mark, so please don’t do that again. And no, I was not scared at all. It did look dangerous but in a really good way. I liked it,” Alec admitted. “Well that’s because you like him I guess,” Max half stated and half asked. Alec smiled at that. “Yeah Max, I love Magnus, he said then stopped right away. He had not said it out loud before. He’s certainly thought about it, but he had no plans on telling Magnus just yet. It felt too soon, he was afraid Magnus would be weirded out. Max nodded slowly, completely missing the inner turmoil Alec was going through. 

“Alec, at the Academy they also said that men are supposed to be with other men. I have never seen two men in a relationship before. Even Jace has had many girlfriends and Izzy had boyfriends. They said you were weird for choosing a male Downworlder at your wedding.”

Alec kept quiet for a while as Max looked at him curiously. “What do you think, Max about my decision to be with a male Downworlder?” Alec asked softly as he braced himself for more rejection. “I think you don’t choose who you love. It’s not important if it is a boy or girl, as long as you love them and they love you,” Max said confidently. “Also, you’re my big brother and I trust you,” added Max. 

“Thank you,” Alec said. “But Magnus is still scary and magic can be very dangerous,” Max said. “Max, Magnus would never harm you. I promise. I know you’re not used to warlocks but maybe the next time you come down we could spend more time with Magnus together. You can see how beautiful magic is. Warlocks are powerful but they don’t just attack us. We live in harmony with them. There are warlocks who will want to hurt shadowhunters. Those are bad warlocks. That’s not Magnus okay,” Alec explained. 

Max nodded. “What about you?” asked Max. Confused by his question Alec asked Max, ”What about me?” Max looked like he was in deep thought. “Would Magnus hurt you? I’ve seen the way mum and dad fight, if one of them had magic I’m sure they would have used it already,” elaborated Max.

“Oh Max. Magnus would not do that. He would never do that. I need you to believe that he cares about me the same way I care about him,” Alec said. “Okay then, do you want to sleep with me tonight?” Max asked Alec. “I would love to buddy but I need to go see Magnus to make sure he’s alright,” Alec said sadly as he tucked his brother into bed. “He’s a powerful warlock Alec. I think he’ll be okay,” Max said between a yawn. Alec smiled at that. “I know, but it’s always nice to have someone with you after a rough day, and Magnus has had one hell of a day. I want to be there for him. Are you going to be okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” replied Max sleepily. “Alright then, goodnight buddy. Call me when you get to Idris tomorrow okay?” “Hmm,” said Max. Smiling widely as his sleepy brother Alec placed a kiss on his forehead. Max had so much to learn. He was going to talk to his mother about Max’s education. He did not want Max learning those horrible things anymore. As he turned he’s room light off and left Max’s room, Alec was both glad that he had spoken to his brother and heartbroken to learn of what he was being taught in Idris. With that he made his way to Magnus’.

**Author's Note:**

> In part 2: Raphael comes to Magnus for advice about Isabelle, Alec and Magnus have a heart to heart and Jace finds himself confiding his deepest secrets to an unlikely person.


End file.
